Twist Street

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Herman K. Lamm, known as Baron Lamm, was a German American bank robber. He is widely considered one of the most brilliant and efficient bank robbers to have ever lived, and has been described as “the father of modern bank robbery”. Lamm’s techniques were studied and imitated by other bank robbers across the country, including the infamous John Dillinger. A former Prussian Army member who emigrated to the United States, Lamm believed a heist required all the planning of a military operation. He pioneered the concepts of meticulously “casing” a bank and developing escape routes before conducting the robbery. Utilizing a meticulous planning system called “The Lamm Technique”, Lamm conducted dozens of successful bank robberies from the end of World War I until 1930, when he committed suicide when surrounded by a posse in Sidell, Illinois, after a botched heist. Herman Lamm was a member of the Prussian Army, but was forced out of his regiment after he was caught cheating at cards.